

#EMPTY TRASH ON MAC MAC#
We suggest either using the terminal or search it via the inbuilt search function Mac has. If for some reason the icon isn’t there, then there are other ways to access the trash folder. And it’s easily distinguishable from the others since it has a trash can icon. The Trash folder on a Mac is located on the lower right side of your screen.
#EMPTY TRASH ON MAC MAC OS X#
Thankfully Mac OS X has a very intuitive interface allowing even first-time users to easily get around. Now that you know what the trash folder is and why it’s so important, its time to figure out where it is located on your Mac. How Do I Find The Trash folder on My Mac? Having the ability to freely delete files and put it back on your computer if you really need it makes the trash folder a very useful feature in Mac OS X which explains why it’s very important that you properly use it to your advantage. And just like with a trash can, you have the option of throwing away all of the contents of the trash folder or you can also recover misplaced files in the first place. So if you have especially large files on your Mac that you don’t need anymore or are simply taking up valuable space, then it’s a good idea to put them in the trash folder. This makes it very useful for managing files that you no longer need. It’s a container where you can dump files that you never need similar to how a trash can works. So first of all, the trash folder is pretty self-explanatory from the name itself. But first, we have to understand what the trash folder is and why it’s very important. How Do I Find The Trash folder on My Mac?īefore we move to do things with the trash folder like deleting files, recovering files, as well as shortcuts that will speed up your efficiency.If you get an error message, you will need to use the sudo command, which will prompt you for your administrator password: If you aren’t afraid of controlling your Mac using Terminal commands, it is possible to empty the trash using the following command:Įmptying the trash with Terminal seems faster than using macOS’s graphical user interface. Then you can empty the trash and restart your computer normally. You can temporarily prevent such processes from opening it automatically by rebooting your Mac in safe mode by holding down the Shift key during startup. If that doesn't solve the issue, you might have a startup or login item using the file. In this case it is recommended to restart your Mac and then empty the trash. If that doesn’t work, there might be one or more background processes using the file. To address that, start by quitting all the apps that are using the file you want to erase, and only then hit “Empty Trash”. This happens because a file could still be in use or locked. We have all encountered the situation where emptying the trash simply doesn’t work or gets stuck.
#EMPTY TRASH ON MAC FOR MAC#
Remember, this will only appear for Mac users running macOS 10.10 or earlier, since Apple removed this feature starting with macOS 10.11 El Capitan. To check if this option is active, go to Finder > Preferences > Advanced and untick “Empty Trash Securely”. It’s worth noting that this is something most users won’t need unless it is highly sensitive information. While it is secure and specially designed for hard disk technology, it is a much slower process compared to a regular file removal. This is a built-in macOS feature that overwrites the data that was stored so the files cannot be recovered once deleted. The first thing you might want to check if the trash is slow to empty is whether the “Secure Empty Trash” feature is active. While this process should be seamless, there are situations where clearing the trash becomes very slow or even becomes stuck, and in some cases macOS will display an error message to explain the reason.

Just like with a regular trash can, you need to ‘empty’ it for the contents to get removed, so right-click on the Trash icon and select “Empty Trash”. Dragging files onto the Trash icon in the Dock doesn’t remove deleted files from the system.
